My city, and several others in the region, have started to react to the growing number of bicyclists by adding specified bike lanes on certain streets. But I see a lot of problems with how they are going about it. First of all, the bike paths are usually on some of the heaviest traveled roads. Although, technically speaking, the bicyclist has the right of way, who's going to argue with an object that weighs a ton. It would seem smarter to me that they should move the bike paths onto lesser traveled roads to begin with. Also, they have not widened the roads or reduced the number of lanes. They simply shave a foot off each lane which makes it dangerous for everybody (bikes and cars) there. And remember to be careful what you wish for. If the pedestrians riot, they know the cars are too big for them to attack without getting hurt. Therefore, they will turn their attention to the lighter wheeled vehicles that get in their way.

phip, so true! I can already see the smiley "aw, a girl on a bicycle- cute" attitude turning into the annoyed "the side-walk is for WALKING, hence the name, silly goose". Yet it is no way near the amount of aggression one gets on a daily basis whilst driving in Moscow. Maybe it's a question of time in your city for the drivers to get used to cyclists on the road? Is anything being done to improve the situation?

A bike without brakes sounds like suicide to me ;-) I prefer my U.S.-made Cruiser - big, comfy, fast, and eye-catching. Love it when I fly past a bunch of kids who exclaim "wooow, look at that bike!" Bikes are only good for the warm seasons, though, and the "fresh" air in Moscow leaves much to be desired. Like to be at least 50 miles away, looking out across endless fields and forests... It's dacha time! =))

Anya, The bicycle lanes here have only been added a few months ago, so it will take time to tell. But my opinion is that it is being handled incorrectly. There really are not that many bicyclist here. And most of those who do bicycle do so for recreation, rather than for necessity. My city has an extensive trail system which connects most of the parks and leads to smaller trails in specific neighborhoods, and I think this system is adequate for most of the bikers. Although I think the bikes should be accommodated to some degree for those who rely on them for their main mode of transportation, I still think that putting the paths on the busy roads was a mistake. There are some bicycle groups here who like to come out once a month or so to make a spectacle of themselves. It seems to me their main goal is to interrupt traffic and to protest the fact that they can not ride with no restrictions. Honestly, I don’t think most of these people care about the bike lanes. They just want to make the cars slow down and avoid them. I think this is rude, and I don’t like it. I don’t think we should bother trying to make any accommodations for those people who will make no accommodations themselves. These people are very vocal though, and I think our Mayor bowed to pressure from them in deciding to set up these paths on the busy roads. As far as I can see, they are seldom used. I tried, but could not find a single map which shows the entire trail. This site, however, contains links to many individual segments of the trail system in or near my city. It really is quite an extensive network. http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/254/region/136/city/8381 I typed in “Moscow bike trails” for a Google search and came up with nothing but Moscow, Idaho. Do you have even have off road bike trails there? I did, however, find this YouTube clip which appears to be the bike ride you described. I certainly hope you are wearing a helmet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hK9lnnGVCk

Fixed Gear puts the sport in bicycling. The bikes that are raced on high-banked, circle tracks are fixed gear. -- SPORTING !

Hello Anya, Thanks for using my old bike (the blue an white one) as a fixed gear example! Really nice to bump into it this way. To respond to the issue of bicycle lanes. Here in Holland I live with the luxury of having them just about everywhere. At crossings it's not always a plus to have them though. It's yet another lane to pay attention to, which, not all drivers do. With or without bicycle lanes, I always stick to: Assume no ones sees you, and act like it! Until you're 100% someone did, don't take any risk what so ever. Driving brakes now for the past 1,5 years. Not a single accident.